STRUCTURE

Fig. 1. Multiscale hierarchy and structure of the turtle shell; (a) a morphology of the turtle shell carapace, (b) a costal scute showing the successive growth pattern, (c) a cross-sectional view of the carapace showing composite layers, (d) an SEM micrograph of a fracture surface, (e) an SEM micrograph of a cell structure, and (f) an SEM micrograph of a fibrous structure inside of the cell.

Structure observations on the turtle shell revealed a multiphase composite material that is arranged by a multi-scale hierarchy. Such a multi-scale hierarchical structure of the turtle shell carapace is depicted in Fig. 1. The turtle shell comprises a series of connected individual plates covered with a layer of horny keratinized scutes (Fig. 1a–b). The scutes are made up of a fibrous protein called keratin that also comprises the scales of other reptiles [5]. These scutes overlap the seams between the shell bones and serve to reinforce the overall protection to the shell. The carapace is made of a sandwich composite structure of functionally graded material (FGM) having relatively denser exterior layers and an interior fibrous foam-like layer (Fig. 1c–d). SEM micrographs clearly revealed such fibrous structure inside of the cell (Fig. 1e–f).